Opening Act
Around the latter half of the 1900s it seemed to Jasper as if the people in England had lost their minds. A group known as the Knights of Walpurgis had been making the news. The cult, as Jasper liked to call it, had taken to terrorizing innocents, their targets were usually families and they seemed to take special pleasure in annihilating entire families after putting them through extensive torture. Every time Jasper read the news he would always sneer in disgust because the thought of hurting innocents in such a way was cowardly, it showed him that those men had no sense of chivalry or honor, they targeted the weak and from the looks of things, they attacked in groups in order to overpower the patriarch. They’d disappeared for a while only to resurface about a year or so ago.
Jasper threw the newspaper down to the table in disgust as Esme looked at him in concern. It had been over fifty years since Jasper and Alice had joined the Cullen Clan and while they had spoken about their past (her amnesia and his time with Maria), they had decided to omit Elizabeth from their narrative because it was something personal for the two of them (more so for Jasper). The fifty years hadn’t done anything to dull the absence of his Muse, a part of him longed for the days when he had been with Maria as she hovered by him just at the corner of his eye as horrific as she had looked then at least she was there but a larger part of him was happy that she was at peace.
She had wanted him to live his life not merely to exist and survive, she wanted him to have adventures to be happy in this damned eternal existence, she wanted him to love and be loved in return whether it was platonic or not, it was up to him. So that was what he was doing, he was immersing himself in his new family, going to school all the time, and travelled the world. Alice always came with him and she would help him track down Peter and Charlotte, together the four of them would see the sights that they never had the opportunity to during their earlier years.
Jasper kept an eye out for the Owens family but never approached them, his protective nature coming out for his Muse’s last known blood. Given his and Alice’s secretive nature about their relationship they had (much to their frustration and amusement) always been considered as a couple or as mates by the rest of the clan though they couldn’t understand why (Carlisle often trying to prompt him to marry Alice). Edward knew but took great pleasure in teasing them about it. For some unknown reason Edward couldn’t read their thoughts when it came to Elizabeth and for that Jasper was grateful.
“Why don’t you get ready to go hunting Jasper?” Esme asked him kindly and Jasper nodded just giving her a smile before disappearing to his room in a flash. Esme is someone who would have made the perfect mother, the emotions he feels from her love-worry-hope and so many other things and Jasper, who has all but forgotten his parents (would have completely had it not been for Elizabeth’s journal), wonders whether or not his mother felt like that.
Soon enough he is outside the door and in the yard with the rest of his family. “Jazz you really should be careful about where you leave your things.” Rosalie said as she threw the paper he’d been reading at him. He caught it easily as he and Alice ran out of the house and into the woods of their new home in Forks, Washington. School was going to begin in about a month and they’d moved in to get everything settled and to familiarize themselves with the land. His best friend and usual hunting partner smirked as they began to play their own version of tag to get his mind off of the ever recurring horrific visions of his Muse that had begun again after thirty something years of silence, though he did not count the vision of the woman that looked so much like his Muse begging for the life of her child. No, nearly three years ago he had begun to see impossible visions of his muse alive but in constant danger and they’d made no sense. Alice had been able to share in some of these visions, perhaps because she’d been touched by Elizabeth’s soul, they didn’t know but they’d kept it secret, unsure of what they meant.
As he and Alice bit into their respective catches, savoring the rich blood of their prey, he thought back to one of his visions from over a year ago where his muse was on the ground, in pain and writhing as she hissed at the man and Jasper shuddered as he thought of how tainted and dark she felt, how wrong it all was.
A man with a long white beard who reminded him of Merlin from the shows and movies, stood before her. She was taunting the man from the ground with a rough hissing lilt to her voice. Suddenly Jasper could feel the same pain he’d felt when he’d had that vision the first time, the fire that burned and coursed within his (her?) body, as she fought against the foreign presence within her body and soul.
And suddenly Alice was there once more, holding his hand as they watched the scene again, as two boys, his Muse’s age ran to her. Each boy sat on one side as the dark haired boy named Percy (that his Muse fondly called Selkie, at times) slit his palms first. “My blood.” He said as he handed the knife to the blonde haired boy named Dudley who’d done the same to his palms.
“Your blood.” Percy had said as he reached for his Muse’s hands once he’d gotten the knife back once more and cut her palms.
“Our blood.” Both boys said as they grabbed one of Elizabeth’s hands and each other’s. “Let our blood protect and cleanse, let it drive away the darkness from within. No place shall be, this darkness welcome, so long as our blood protects and love endures.” The boys both said and his Muse screamed and a light withdrew from within her as her breathing evened out and she sat up. Jasper could feel her exhaustion as she glared at the pale, bald, nose-less man that stood before them, pointing a stick. She’d been pushed behind the boys as they sat in front, resolutely shielding her from the dark robed figure in front of them. And suddenly the scene was fading once more.
“Are you alright now?” Alice asked as the pain subsided and he was once more back in the forest.
“I…” He began shakily, taking an unnecessary breath of air. “Yes, I’m fine.” He said as he glanced at the deer he’d drained. They sat in silence for a while before they headed home. There was to be a thunderstorm later in the day and they knew their family would want to play baseball.
Percy ran across the forest of Forks, Washington with Hazel and Frank as he tried to get to Seattle to recruit Reyna’s sister, Hylla, to help fight against the army that was coming for Camp Jupiter, they had run across some monsters on the way and had detoured from their path and somehow ended up on the other side of Washington as Ella flew above them. His memory was still largely missing but he started to remember certain people such as Annabeth and his family. He knew that his cousin Amy was in danger and he needed to finish this and get back to her.
Percy cursed as another loud boom came from the heavens, his instincts screaming that there was something there. He came across a group of humans playing baseball and for a moment he blinked as he stared at them because seriously who the hell plays baseball during a thunderstorm? He thought before he saw one of them strike the ball and another loud boom came and he saw another take off in a run and nearly disappear with his sheer speed. The… being (male) stopped before him, his brown hair and amber eyes staring at them in surprise.
“Humans.” The boy said, not too loud but within moments, the rest of those who’d been playing were in front of them. ‘Muggle Vampire.’ A voice in his mind supplied.
“What do we do with them?” A beautiful blonde asked wearily but what caught his attention was the blonde haired boy close to her.
“Selkie.” The blonde boy said and Percy tensed because he knew that there was no way this stranger should know that someone called him that, though the boy did look quite familiar.
He grabbed his knife (his mind whispering caution from using any of his swords) from his pocket and held it up to the stranger’s throat. “How do you know about that? There is only one person who called me that and you most definitely aren't her.” He growled against the man who in turn merely pointed to the scar on his palm and suddenly he remembered the boy he’d seen in his cousin’s mind that day over a year ago.
“Is it real? Is she in danger?” The boy, ‘Jasper’ his mind had supplied with Amy’s voice.
“Yes.” Was all Percy said and he didn’t mention his name because he’d had a feeling that the boy truly knew who he was. ‘Find her, protect her, please.’ Wasn’t added either because he knew that Jasper had gotten it. Jasper nodded at him and turned to his coven mates.
“I’m sorry, I need to go. I… Alice can explain everything.” He said and he leaned in to whisper something to the pixie like vampire and was gone immediately.
The pixie vampire turned to them with a smile. “Right! What do you need? Jasper told me to help you out with whatever you needed.” She said before any of her coven mates could say anything.
Percy frowned. “A… a car, but that’s asking a bit too much. With our luck, it’d be destroyed soon by those chasing after us and we’d never be able to return it.” He said to her but she just shook her head and smiled.
“Don’t worry! You can take mine.” She said brightly before throwing both him and Hazel on her shoulders and taking off. An indignant grunt from Frank told him that one of the Vampires had picked him up as well. Within a minute they arrived at a large house where numerous cars were parked.
“Alice, dear, you haven’t told us what’s going on.” A brown haired woman said as Alice settled him in front of a yellow Porsche 911 and handed him the key and a wad of cash.
“Don’t worry about her, Jasper will find her and protect her.” She said as she shushed his protests. Percy nodded and waited as Hazel got into the back seat while Frank sat in front. As soon as they were far away though, they’d stop to allow Ella in. And as Percy drove out of Forks, his mind wandered to the Alice the Vampire and her whispered words to him. “I don’t know why, but you and your cousin aren’t seen within my visions. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them much.”
Alice explained a few things to her family, like the fact that Jasper had a special connection to a girl who had empathic abilities and was in constant danger. That she’d had a few visions that she had managed to catch from Japer’s bond with the girl who unconsciously reached out every time she was in pain. This special gift and the bond between them would pull Jasper into whatever was going on and make him a spectator to whatever torment was being dealt to the girl by the people that had murdered her parents and who were coming after her and the rest of her kin. That Jasper, would go to the woman who was to be his mate was a given then, though Carlisle was fascinated by Alice’s explanation since this was highly unprecedented, unheard of in fact.
Rosalie thought of the girl and allowed herself to imagine the danger she was in, she’d seen some of the worst of human depravity after all. Esme worried for Jasper and prayed he’d reach her in time while Emmett merely thought of the girl with mild curiosity and worry on Jasper’s behalf. Edward though frowned as he thought of a woman being hurt and hunted by men for sport.
Number 4 Privet Drive had, to the outside world, undergone little change since that fateful November morning nearly sixteen years ago when Mrs. Petunia Dursley opened her door to find a woman standing with a red haired babe in her arms. This was, of course farthest from the truth… the woman she knew to be Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of the school her middle sister had gone to, as well as the godmother to her brother in law… James Potter. Petunia had taken one look at the woman and babe and ushered them inside as she burst into tears with the knowledge that her sister, who was supposed to be safe and in hiding, was dead.
Yes, to the outside world… the most exciting (and unfortunate) thing that had happened on Privet Drive was the arrival of Mrs. Dursley’s niece. Though what most didn’t know was that things within Number 4 had changed a great deal. The house now seemed barren and almost devoid of life as the Dursley family prepared for their move to a newer and larger home due to Vernon’s ‘promotion’ (though in truth they were to be whisked away to go into hiding). Things had not been easy for the inhabitants of Number 4, most certainly not for their niece…
The flash of green startled Holly Elizabeth Amarantha Evans Potter awake as she sprung up with a gasp. She stared at her room of near sixteen years with melancholy as she saw everything packed away into her trunk. A knock on the door caught her attention as she focused her attention towards the soft and quick footsteps of her Aunt Petunia and allowed herself to be pulled into her eldest aunt’s embrace. She allowed herself to be soothed by the warmth of her aunt and allowed her aunt’s empathic gift to influence her own.
“Please come with us.” Her aunt begged her softly through the stillness of the night, Holly (or Amy if you were a close friend or family) knew that his uncle was doing the same with Dudley.
“They won’t ever stop hunting us, hunting me… please Aunt ‘Tuney… please take Dudley and run.” Amy said with a shake of her head.
“Dudley would never run and leave you defenseless.” Petunia reminded her, because that was how it had always been; Percy, Dudley, and Amy together… where one went, the other followed, even into a war such as the Titan War the previous summer. But circumstances had changed, Percy had gone missing some weeks previous and Olympus had gone silent, the Egyptians under their Kane cousins had launched a full search in conjunction with their Greek counterpart but had as of yet, turned up nothing. The worry had begun to eat away at the family. Great-Grandfather Marius was sparing no expense in his considerably vast wealth (built through his business acumen in both the muggle and wizarding world) in order to search for Percy (who was in all honesty his only biological great-grandchild, though it never seemed that way). The manner of his disappearance meant that divine intervention had played a part and given the fact that the Owens bloodline, through which their grandmother Aster Evans (formerly married to a man descended from the Knight Gawain who had fathered Petunia and her own mother Lily before taking off with another woman), was descended from the Greek, Roman, and Norse gods (and the Pharaohs of Egypt)… she knew that this was a possibility.
“I’m sorry you have to go through all this. I’m sorry, Auntie!” Amy said as she broke down and her aunt shushed her once more.
“The past decade and a half that you’ve been with us has been difficult and worrisome but I wouldn’t trade it for the world, all the happiness and love, all the privilege Vernon and I felt through the years watching you grow into the capable, kind, and caring young adults that you and your cousins have become… I know that neither Sally nor I or Vernon for that matter, would have made a different decision to the ones that your parents had made all those years ago… and we’d make the same sacrifice for all three of you.” Petunia told her sincerely as she pulled away from her and she felt her aunt’s gentle hands brushing away her tears. Amy’s heart lifted at that and as she stared into her aunt’s deep blue eyes, nearer to sapphire than anything, she knew that there was naught but honesty in her words. Sunlight began to peak into her window as she and Petunia finally stood and exited her room where they were met with Dudley and Vernon.
Quietly their little family (achingly missing their close kin in America) began to prepare their last breakfast for the foreseeable future. Dudley and Vernon spoke of their sword training through which they were naturally gifted (as one would expect from Lancelot du Lac’s descendants) while Petunia spoke of the flowers she would grow when they moved to Massachusetts so that Vernon could run the Grunnings American Branch. Amy caught sight of Dudley’s palm and saw the faint scar on it and she gazed at her own palms which both held the faint scar of a knife’s cut, something she knew was on Percy’s palms as well (an exorcism based on blood magic and love that the boys had performed during the Battle at the Ministry when they were fifteen).
A stream of sunlight hit her Aunt’s golden hair and suddenly it shone a different shade of blonde, more saccharine honey than golden and the image of a man that had haunted her since she was fourteen flashed in her mind as his eyes turned from hazel to red to black then amber in rapid succession and a name came into her mind, ‘Jasper’ her mind whispered but she ignored it, much as she had done in years passed. Her life was complicated and dangerous enough without the added distraction of a mysterious figure dodging her mind and stealing her awareness with fanciful notions of love and soulmates.
Destiny was a word that she and those closest to her had grown to despise, Fate was another. Prophecies had ruled the lives of their generational line that their entire family had paid the price for it with varying degrees of severity. Her parents deaths, Aunt Sally’s brief and rather tragic love affair with Poseidon, Percy and his quests, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon having to run and hide, the weight of Lancelot’s sins weighing on Dudley and his need to redeem it (never mind that Gallahad du Lac had been the hero of the Holy Grail), and of course Amy’s own upcoming duel with old Tommy boy.
She glanced around the sparse and bare house for everything else that may need to be packed away before the family’s escape that very night but found none. As the family migrated to the immaculate garden lovingly tended to by Amy and her aunt, they sat on the deck and spoke of their time together, basking in the warmth, love, security, and belongingness that came with their family and as the day passed and more tears were shed, they sat down for one last dinner before they made a tour around the now empty house with heart heavier than lead and she knew that the others, just as much as she, could hear and see the ghosts of their past running around the house, the tinkling of laughter and the stampede that came when the three Evans cousins were together and running around the house.
When the doorbell rang that night the family held each other once more and pulled away hesitantly. Uncle Vernon squared his shoulders as he opened the door to allow Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones to enter. The greetings passed by and she watched as the final belongings were pressed tightly into the back of her uncle’s car, the movers having taken everything away to be sent to America at a later date. The two magicals stood to the side while her aunt and uncle gave them one last hug.
“I can’t believe we’ll miss your birthday for the first time.” Aunt Petunia cried as she hugged her tightly and she found herself returning in kind. “Be safe, both of you. Promise me.” Petunia cried as she brought Dudley into their embrace.
“I expect you both to be meet us in Graham Manor as soon as this war is over. Do you hear me.” Vernon said as he pressed gentle kisses on her forehead and gave Dudley’s hair a short tousle. They whispered their words of love to one another before pulling away, tears in their eyes and she felt Dudley wrap his arms around her shoulder as they watched from the window as the car drove away from them, heartbroken but determined, she met Dudley’s eyes and they nodded before gathering their things, the ache of their missing third ‘sibling’ was felt more keenly with the loss of his quips and reassurances.
“Thank you for staying with me, Gal.” Amy said as she turned to Dudley.
“You’re family, I would not abandon you to the darkness.” He said and there was the echo of the man that he’d been once, in Arthur’s court. Gallahad du Lac. Gallahad the incorruptible. “Morgan, I will never betray you or Arthur.” He reassured her once. Morgan le Fay, the tales written about her following the Vulgate Cycle had been so far off the woman she had been. She was Morgan le Fay who had stood beside her brother through everything, who had whisked him off to Avalon in the hopes of saving him. And Percy… Arthur, he was the only one who could unite Albion and set things to right and his great friendship with Neville Longbottom was not as startling when one considered the fact that he was once Merlin, ever faithful and watchful, waiting for his dearest friend to return once more and wield Excalibur. Their memories of those lives, returned slowly through their years at Hogwarts before coming to a head when Percy had stumbled upon the ancient city of Camelot in the heart of the Forbidden Forest and had pulled the sword free from the stone that had bound it for centuries. The burst of magic and the memories rushed past them and swept through the country, magic that bowed only to the will of the true king.
The members of the ARDA or the Albion Resistance and Defense Army (or as the Toad was informed as being Association for Runes, Defense, and Arithmancy), had been recalled after the disastrous battle in the Ministry that had led to the loss of her godfather but the revelation of Riddle’s return. Their coins and tokens respelled to include an automatic portkey for any within their dwelling in danger of those who bore Riddle’s mark, a portkey that would take them to the fortified and very much habitable Camelot.
Duddley gave her hand a squeeze as they loaded their things on to Sirius’ motorcycle. She had released Hedwig the night previous and told her to find her once she and Dudley had escaped Privet Drive. Hedwig hooted at her before taking off as if to say ‘I’ll hold you to that!”
“We’ll be alright. As long as we’re together.” Dudley reassured her, but they weren’t… Percy was missing and the effects of his absence was felt everywhere. Annabeth and Auntie Sally (or Salvia) hadn’t slept since they’d discovered his disappearance, Neville was using any and all magic he could think of to scry for him while trying to organize the ARDA and the Squib Network (or as some call it the Muggle Underground).
“Dudley, remember… they said that there are paths which we need to walk on our own… this is mine and you’ll have a choice to make but we’ll see each other before the closing. Gallahad is needed by more than Morgan and Arthur, Gallahad the incorruptible needs to lead the people in place of Arthur.” Amy told her cousin with a heavy heart because she knew, somehow… someway, they would be separated. They had different roles to play, Neville as Merlin would need to rally and continue teaching ARDA from within; she as Morgana would need to set aside her role as healer and take on a more combative approach as she had been for the past few years; Percy’s role was to become the High King of Albion; and Dudley, in Percy’s absence, would need to rally the people on the outside (or rather those who were in Camelot).
“I don’t like to think that I’ll be leaving you alone. The rest of the world can get by without me but we’re family and we need to stick together!” Dudley said stubbornly. And she was reminded of the fatal flaw that was presented to all three of them… Personal loyalty and love. ‘To save a friend you would destroy the world.’ Athena had cautioned Percy once and then glanced at them to show that she and Dudley suffered from the same flaw. Perhaps another great flaw shared by all three was the fact that they were rather reactionary, though Percy had the easiest of temperaments among the three of them, and she the fiercest. Amy thought it best to keep her thoughts to herself rather than argue with him now, something was coming, of that she was sure and she knew that Percy’s disappearance would lead to a large shift in circumstances for the war… though whether it was for good or for ill… it had yet to be seen.
A resounding knock broke her from her thoughts though as she and Dudley glanced at one another from across the kitchen table and within a split second their wands were out and hands going to their hidden demi-pantheon weapons as they cautiously approached the door. An advantage to their blood was that they were instructed in a wide range of magic from an early age and as such were more knowledgeable in the more arcane magic than most people were and were deadlier in combat due to their surprises. The blood ties of the Owens clan between the Halliwel clan and the Spellman clan (the latter of which were descended from the Elder Sect of Magicals) ensured that they were proficient in both nonverbal and wandless magic (though the wand was something of a western invention as well).
They both stood to the side, well away from the direct line of fire as Dudley opened the door and they found Mad-Eye Moody as well as a handful of people from the Weasley Family, Remus and Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hagrid, Fleur, and Hermione. They had nothing but brooms with them and a sack of clothes. Hermione rushed to her and engulfed her into a tight hug while Ron solemnly clasped Dudley in the back. There was talk between them about their escape plan (which was meant for Dudley and Holly to drive away in the car that Marius Black-Jackson had given to Dudley for his seventeenth birthday) but that was quickly shot down even though it made perfect sense to those who’d been muggle raised. The Death Eaters were primarily Purebloods and had no real working knowledge of the muggle world, Amy and Dudley could just melt away and drive through the night until they reached Devon where Ottery St. Catchpole was.
It showed that her guard was primarily composed of Purebloods that they could not understand the safety that came with blending in as muggles. They’d decided going with their first, and frankly, more dangerous plan (which the cousins disagreed with, rather violently). Dudley watched as Hermione plucked away some strands of his cousin’s red hair and as he drank the golden polyjuice potion, he grimaced at both the taste and the alien feeling of his body rearranging itself. More awkward still was getting dressed while in his cousin’s body. He grimaced at the restrictive nature of the bra and silently wondered what horrid psychopath would invent something that was meant to torture a woman and pass it off as an article of clothing. He silently remembered the heels that his cousin had been wearing during the Yule Ball and he shuddered at the thought of wearing that stilettoed monstrosity, a new appreciation for the women in his life began within Dudley as he quickly finished dressing and glared at the Twins who were trying to look down Amy’s (really them in their disguised bodies) shirt. Bill had covered his eyes and held the clothes for Fleur as she changed without really shedding any of her under clothes since she and Amy were apparently ‘roughly’ the same size, he grimaced in disgust once more because it was not something he wanted to think about and the horror that struck him when he imagined what would’ve happened had the potion gone wrong and they’d been stuck as Amy forever. He thought of Susan and the impossibility of that relationship.
As he watched Amy get on Sirius’ bike, her trunk in her pocket and Hedwig already released days prior, Dudley caught Amy’s eye as they gave 4 Privet Drive one last look all the while knowing that this may very well be the last time they both saw their home. As Dudley got on the broom with Mad-Eye, his own trunk and car in his pocket, he felt the true end of their childhood.
The moment they took off Dudley saw the wards fall as countless Death Eaters appeared before them. He grabbed his (her?) pocket and immediately began to fire off spells. He kept his calm as he saw the nose less bastard approach them. ‘I will not let you pass and hurt Amy!’ He thought furiously as he began firing off some more offensive and grey spells that children of Hecate had created (as well as some magic taught only within the confines of the House of Life). The Vamp wannabe gone wrong took interest in him (her?) for a few moments as they exchanged spells before his attention was taken elsewhere and he took off, Dudley could feel his heart drop because he knew that they had somehow discovered which one of them was truly Amy and Dudley held back his desire to show his hand and use the Spellman gifts that he’d received as a magical inheritance when he’d turned seventeen, the powers of an Elder Sect Warlock. He watched in horror as the wraith like apparition flew across the sky without using any broom or magical artifact as he continued to fight against the Death Eaters who had him cornered.
With Mad-Eye’s help, they’d taken down at least six Death Eaters and Dudley watched with vindictive glee as they fell from their brooms and to their deaths, the knowledge of their horrid crimes seared within his mind as his natural legilimence abilities went about full force as he focused on the battle. He knew each and every one participating within the battle and he’d read their minds and seen those who were only there due to the imperius curse. Soon enough they reached the safe house, though they had missed the portkey and had needed to take his car due to the damage done to Mad-Eye’s broom.
So Dudley drove quietly along the streets of Devon and arrived (to no surprise) last, among the group. He and Amy ran to one another as soon as they could. He wrapped his arms around his little cousin and breathed in her scent of vanilla and strawberries. “I was so worried, the Nose-less Nuisance just stopped in the middle of our duel and took off. I knew that someone had made you somehow.” Dudley told her.
“I used the expelliarmus against Stan Shunpike and apparently that’s my signature.” Amy told him as she pulled away with a grimace. And Dudley couldn’t help but frown. Having a signature attack meant you were more predictable to the enemy.
Before Dudley could say anything though, Amy shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll work to push the habit away. I know Mr. Brunner wouldn’t like it.” She’d said as she used Chiron’s false name. “Now come on, George just lost his ear and he ought to be waking up soon.” And with that he was dragged into the Burrow.
Her seventeenth birthday came and went with a small party (which she shared with her god brother Neville) consisting of the Weasleys, Delacours, and certain members of both ARDA and the Order of the Phoenix, the only drawback of the night had been Scrimgeour’s arrival and his subsequent denial of Dumbledore’s will, they’d decided to end the party early after that in order to be well rested for Bill and Fleur’s nuptials the next day. The wedding had been going well as Amy (polyjuiced into a dark haired muggled) danced with Charlie when suddenly, Kingsley’s patronus arrived and announced the Minister was dead. Charlie let her go immediately and pointed her towards Hermione and Ron while Dudley (who’d been polyjuiced into the muggle’s twin brother) glanced at her with steely resolve and resignation as he nodded from across the room as he disapparated with Sue and a few of the children present at the wedding at the same time as Hermione apparated with them.
‘So this was how we were to be separated. Dudley had to make a choice and protect those children.’ Amy thought as they walked into a diner. They came back out minutes later after a duel and headed for 12 Grimmauld Place. This was Riddle’s opening act.
Percy sat down with Annabeth as Romans and Greeks alike celebrated their victory against Gaea. Though Leo’s loss was heartbreaking, the fact that they’d managed to do so much had lifted their spirits. They’d seen to their injured and gathered their dead, now was the time to celebrate and tomorrow they were going to mourn and perform their final rights.
August 1st now meant so much more than it once did, it was the day that the Greeks and Romans put aside their differences and united. Percy once more turned down Godhood and asked for new favors, though his favors were not without consequence, the gods had made him the Emperor and commander of the united Greco-Roman Pantheon and given his kinship to the Pharaoh of the House of Life, he’d been named the Ambassador of Olympus.
Percy sighed and brought Annabeth closer to his side as he thought of his cousins and knew that he had to wait till his seventeenth birthday to return to England so that they can’t trace his magic. Guilt ate at him because he knew he couldn’t lead these people who’d suffered so much into another war and so kept his thoughts closed off. He kissed Annabeth then and allowed himself to forget, if only briefly.